St. John Sheriff's Office begins to heal as case against those accused of shooting deputies moves forward

It has been more than three months since four deputies were shot, two of them fatally, and seven suspects, including a father and two sons with ties to a domestic terrorist organization, were arrested in connection with the most deadly attack on law enforcement in St. John the Baptist Parish's collective memory. Since that gut-wrenching day, the parish has...

It has been more than three months since four deputies were shot, two of them fatally, and seven suspects, including a father and two sons with ties to a domestic terrorist organization, were arrested in connection with the most deadly attack on law enforcement in St. John the Baptist Parish's collective memory. Since that gut-wrenching day, the parish has begun to pick up the pieces.

While the community continues to mourn the loss of Jeremy Triche, 27, and Brandon Nielsen, 34, the deputies killed in the shootout, Michael Scott Boyington, who was injured, is healed and home after recovering from his wounds. Jason Triche, who was also wounded, is still in the hospital, but he is on the mend.

St. John Sheriff Mike Tregre, who became the parish's chief law enforcement official just a month before the grisly events of Aug. 16, remains committed to helping his deputies overcome the tragedy. Between the shootings and Hurricane Isaac, which battered St. John and severely flooded its largest city just two weeks after the deputy shootings, it has been an incredibly trying few months, Tregre said. But it's getting easier every day.

"I was expecting people to leave. I was expecting people to find another line of work after this happened," Tregre said of his department, which includes 254 deputies. "But I am very happy and proud to say that everyone is here, through the shooting, through the storm, through the tragedies.

"It's getting easier, but it's not normal -- it's going to be a new normal," Tregre continued. "We tend to people who have been victims of crime. Now we are the victims. If your home is burglarized, it's violating, and coming home to it will always feel different. That's how this has been for us."

Meanwhile, last week saw the first crucial development in the court case against the alleged perpetrators - the Smith clan and their affiliates, all of them tied to the vehemently anti-government group known as Sovereign Citizens. Chanel Skains, 37, the wife of the clan's patriarch, Terry Smith, 44, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to attempted first degree murder after the fact. Her bond was reduced to $100,000, and she is now required to appear in court every 60 days.

Presumably, the plea deal means Skains will testify for the government in its case against the rest of the group. Those facing charges include alleged shooters Kyle David Joekel, 28, and Brian Smith, 24, who were indicted for the first degree murders of deputies Triche and Nielsen and face multiple attempted first degree murder charges. Brian's younger brother, Derrick Smith, 22, and their father, Terry Smith, meanwhile, have been charged as principals to attempted first degree murder.

A seventh person arrested in connection with the killings is apparently no longer a suspect. Two weeks ago, the St. John Parish District Attorney's office declined to bring charges against Teniecha Bright, who was in the Smiths' truck when Brian Smith allegedly opened fire on Boyington as he worked a security detail at the Valero lot in LaPlace.

Bright told neighbors her presence was circumstantial, and that she'd simply caught a ride home with the Smiths. Bright is expected to testify in a preliminary examination on Jan. 18.

When the Smith clan arrived in St. John earlier this summer, they were in possession of a small arsenal of guns and ammunition, as well as troubling rap sheets. Just one year prior to the shootings, Joekel had threatened to kill police officers in Barneston, Neb., and Terry Smith had been a suspect in a Tennessee child molestation case.

Their trial or trials may not begin until fall of next year; at a scheduling hearing on Monday, dates in July, September and October were proposed. Dec. 14 was confirmed for the next scheduling hearing, and Jan. 18 for a preliminary examination. At the same hearing, prosecutors said they will not seek the death penalty for Keith.

According to a witness, Skains ran screaming from her trailer in an attempt to protect the endangered deputies once her husband's son, Brian, and Joekel opened fire. She'd begged the pair, "don't shoot him, don't shoot him," as she threw herself on top of one fallen deputy, the witness said. But they continued to shoot, and Skains allegedly suffered a gunshot wound to the arm as a result.

Skains had been a "good girl" prior to meeting and marrying Terry Smith, according to Skains' father, Richard, who regarded his daughter's husband as an extremely dangerous man.

In an August interview, Skains told The Times-Picayune: "Them cops didn't have to die." Richard Skains could not be reached for comment about his daughter's plea deal this week.

The Aug. 16 shootings began just before 5 a.m., when the Smiths, Joekel and Bright drove a red-and-black Chevy pickup truck through the Valero refinery's off-site parking lot in LaPlace, near Airline Highway. Brian Smith then allegedly opened fire on Boyington, who was stationed in his car on a security detail.

Three deputies -- Brandon Nielsen, Jeremy Triche and Jason Triche -- were radioed, and they followed the speeding truck to a trailer park in LaPlace, where they approached a trailer and knocked on the door. There were allegedly three men inside, though only two were visible; when the deputies asked the men to step outside, the third man charged, firing at the deputies with an assault rifle. Even after Skains allegedly draped herself over one of the injured officers, the two continued to shoot.

According to court records, the surviving deputy later told investigators that he saw one of the gunmen, either Brian Smith or Joekel, "actively shooting a sheriff's deputy, as he lay upon the ground, with a high-powered rifle."